Interactive Flash Games on Youtube and Gamification
With technology constantly evolving, there are so many new and inventive ideas being created. Youtube has started a new trend of interactive flash games that are played directly on the website. Although flash games aren’t anything new, it is new to the Youtube format and it’s a new way for companies to further advertise their brands. The characteristic of an interactive flash game is giving users the ability to completely control their environment. They are able to move and click on objects in order to reach the game’s overall goal. Aside from just utilizing flash, these interactive Youtube games are using gamification. Brands use gamification to engage and interact with their consumers by providing them with some sort of reward or give out points. You can share your scores with your friends and challenge them to beat your score. For example, a company can make an interactive Youtube racing game to see whose product is better both advertising the brand and their products’ functionality, along with keeping their consumers engaged in the product. As they participate, they may be able to enter a contest or just have bragging rights as the “leader” of the game.
There are several case studies that exemplify the use of interactive Flash games on Youtube along with gamification. The first case is Zyrtec, the allergy medicine. They created a simple interactive game on Youtube called “Parks Unleashed”. It’s much more than just clicking buttons in order to see something happen; instead it’s much more immersive and acts like a platform game, except it’s all done on Youtube. The game starts out at a park and the user has to interact with different dogs in order to reach the ultimate goal of finding the loot they stole. In order to find the loot, users have to gather clues and build their inventory as they journey through the park. When users are given clues by dogs in the park, they can move on by dragging the screen around with their mouse to access different areas of the park to find more clues. After they follow the first clue, they meet human characters to interact with where they give the user more clues and the user can “ask” predetermined questions based on the clues that were collected previously. When users meet the human characters, it’s filmed in first person, so it feels as though the user is truly there asking questions and the characters answer back. If users pick the correct path, they move onto the next level where they had to register if they wanted to be eligible to win the prize. Users who are successful in finding the lost goods have the chance of winning a Samsung Galaxy Tablet. According to JWT, the advertising agency behind the game, said they saw a 40% increase in registrations. As users play the game, they continue to collect clues, gather inventory items, play games along the way to gain points and unlock bragging rights, all the while finding where the loot was stashed. The game has also be integrated into Facebook so users can post the badges they’ve collected on their profiles. This interactive Youtube game is a good example of gamification because it goes beyond just mundane button pushing. They’re actually trying to engage users and challenge their interests in advancing further into the game. It becomes an addicting and entertaining game for consumers, as well as a great branding tool.
Here’s the link to play: Zyrtec’s Parks Unleashed
Another example of interactive Youtube games and gamificiation is Google’s Nexus Contraption game. Again, this game is played on a Youtube channel. When Samsung launched their Galaxy Nexus S smartphone, they wanted to promote it in a different way. So, they created the Nexus Contraption, a puzzle game that allows users to see how quickly they can build their own Nexus smartphone by guiding some Google apps through the various puzzles. The game itself is very simple – get the Google apps from one side of the screen to the red funnel on the other side by using the provided tools such as rubber bands, fans, and magnets. As users progress through the levels, the puzzles get harder. The time it takes for users to solve a puzzle are also counted and tallied at the end of the puzzle, where you can compare your time with your friends and others. The game is designed to be fun and entertaining as well as interactive, thus making the consumer more inclined to know more about the Galaxy Nexus. On the game interface, there’s a “Learn More” button where players can read about the features and specs on the Nexus. They even allow users to purchase the phone from stores such as Amazon and Best Buy by simply clicking the “Buy Now” button.
Here’s the link to play: Google’s Nexus Contraption
Many consumers don’t want to be bombarded with advertising, which is why this Google Nexus S game is a great use of advertising because it’s subtle. Consumers can enjoy the game while still understanding that Google is trying to sell them the Nexus phone through the name being shown on the header and when players complete a course, the phone appears and users see the app go into the phone, displaying its contents. The same can go for the Zyrtec game. They have the Zyretc logo placed around the game and in game. It’s all about being immersive and giving the consumer an experience. They’re giving consumers the ability to play a game that directly relates to their brand, and if consumers are enjoying themselves, they’ll more than likely want to learn more about what the brand is. Interactive Flash Youtube games are a unique platform that is only going to grow bigger, in my opinion. It embraces the idea of interactivity and giving the control to the consumer. Consumers are immersing themselves into a branded game, whether they realize it or not, and they’re allowing themselves to engage with the product being advertised. And since millions of people go onto Youtube a day, there’s opportunity for many more of these interactive games and for more engagement and awareness about these brands.
Hypothetically, my client is Tide, and I’m creating an interactive Flash Youtube game that also utilizes gamification. My idea for Tide is to create a game called Hamper Toss. The premise of the game is that articles of clothing will be dropping from the top of the screen. Each article has a different sort of stain. For example, gym shorts could be dropping down with dirt stains, and the user would have to pick up the hamper with the correct Tide product label, such as Tide Febreze Sport. If the user puts the clothing in the wrong hamper or misses an article of clothing, they lose some of their point score. If users continue to pick the correct hamper without mistakes, they are awarded bonus points such as multipliers. In order to finish a level, the hamper needs to be full. In the earlier stages, there may only be three hampers, but as the game moves on, there will be more and the clothing drops at a faster rate in order to give the game a challenge. Once a level has been completed, the clothing will be put into a washer machine, and there will be a quick description on the Tide product being used. There will also be a button that allows users to learn more about the product and how it helps clean those specific stains out of clothes. The game will tally the player’s score where they can submit it to be put on the “leader’s board” if it’s high enough. This makes the game competitive and hopefully consumers would continue to come back to play because they had fun and they want to improve their score, all while learning more about the product. Tide can also offer special offer coupons for their products for winners who beat the game under certain conditions, like getting 50,000 points in 1 minute, that way there’s also an incentive aside from just bragging rights. I believe that this is a good example of utilizing interactive Youtube games and gamification because it encompasses all the necessary characteristics – an engaging and challenging game that goes beyond just simple embedding of links as well as offering some sort of reward or points to its players.